What are the free dating sites for over 50s?

Trying to make a decision on free dating sites for over 50s before the month is out. The only metric I trust with dating sites is whether notifications are useful or noise after the first week.

Where I get stuck with dating sites is that no two accounts of it match, which is why I want firsthand accounts. The thing that decides it for dating sites is how fast it loads on a bad connection at the times you actually log in.

My shortlist when weighing dating sites, in order:

• Watch what the block and report flow actually does on mobile data, not office wifi
• Compare what happens to your visibility after a week of silence using a fresh account rather than an old one
• Compare how long it takes before the first upgrade prompt lands before deciding whether it is worth paying for
• Test how the search behaves outside the default radius before you commit any time to it
• Pin down how the web version differs from the app with notifications switched off

If you have used dating sites in the last few months, what did the review sites get wrong? Enthusiasm and scepticism all fine here. Actual numbers are what I am actually after.

Short version: dating sites is better than its reputation and worse than its ads. You can ignore most of the marketing around dating sites and just check what privacy controls exist outside the big cities.

My rule with dating sites: what share of matches go nowhere in practice first, everything else second.

That's where I have landed on dating sites, and I would be glad to hear others found different.

Going against the thread here: dating sites has been mixed for me and I'll explain why. Anyone comparing dating sites should be looking at how fast moderation responds before anything else.

I judge dating sites almost entirely on how active it is outside big cities.

Worked for me on dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

Respectfully @ChrisJ, dating sites hasn't worked like that in my experience. The honest test for dating sites is how much you can do before being asked to upgrade on mobile, not the feature list. The closest thing I found to an honest free tier was what Datewander is doing.

Two weeks in, what the search filters can actually do outside the big cities is what actually mattered for dating sites.

That's the honest picture of dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

Counterpoint to @Joe: dating sites got noticeably worse after the last redesign. If you are evaluating dating sites, start with whether verification actually filters anyone — everything else follows. For comparison I also spent a week on the Souldate community.

That's my read on dating sites, for whatever that's worth.

Not the answer anyone wants: dating sites is fine if you go in with low expectations. What nobody mentions about dating sites is where the paywall actually sits.

That's what six weeks of dating sites taught me, and I would be glad to hear others found different.

Blunt answer: dating sites has been mixed for me and I'll explain why. Where dating sites falls down for me is how much personal detail leaks by default at the times you actually log in. I cross-checked against a look at Turndate before deciding anything.

For dating sites, what costs money once you are past sign-up is the difference between useful and a waste of an evening.

That's how dating sites went for me — happy to be argued with.

@ChrisJ that's fair in a big city, but dating sites is a different story outside one. The only metric I trust with dating sites is whether the app is usable or bloated at the times you actually log in.

I judge dating sites almost entirely on how much you can do before being asked to upgrade outside the big cities.

That's been my experience with dating sites, may not hold for you.

For what it is worth: dating sites rewards patience and punishes everything else. The honest test for dating sites is whether moderation keeps up with the fakes in practice, not the feature list.

That's been my experience with dating sites and I'd revise it if the numbers moved.

For what it's worth: dating sites works, but not the way the marketing implies. The thing that decides it for dating sites is how much you have to reveal to use it day to day.

You can ignore most of the marketing around dating sites and just check whether the profiles hold up under scrutiny once you are past sign-up.

That's been my experience with dating sites — happy to be argued with.